Ch. 1 - Episode 1 p18 - Shoujo manga is overflowing with dreams

<b>Shoujo manga is overflowing with dreams</b>

After I got home from Karen’s house, I began reading the shoujo manga I had bought today in my bedroom.

To be completely real, I didn’t really have time for this since an exam was coming up… However, Shirahata-san said she would send me a message about the manga later today, so things wouldn’t go well if I didn’t read it.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to pull one all-nighter.

And that is how I got through it… though it was extremely diabetic!

The story was so sweet, I started to crave bitterness. I’d probably be better if I read a gross manga at the same time I read a shoujo one.

Although, if I actually did do that, I would probably be confused on what I was reading.

“Is there really such a thing as love…?”

In this story, the main character, a girl, promised to marry a boy when she was a child, and when she entered high school, the boy she fell in love with was the boy she promised to marry when she was a child. …… Well, it’s a common story.

But of course, it was 2D.

Is there such a thing as pure love? I’d think that, after a few years, the promise would be forgotten and the girl would fall in love with another boy close to her.

Well, if there was such a pure and earnest girl, I could probably fall in love with that kind of girl.

There was no point in hoping for one, though.

After a while, I managed to finish reading the manga.

My honest impression: even a high school boy can read it and cry. Really, rave reviews. This single-minded and pure girl is just so cute.

She wants to tell him how she feels, but since she’s clumsy, she can’t. Her pent-up, frustrated feelings were so cute. And the way she conveys her feelings despite her clumsiness is also too cute.

In conclusion, yes, the manga’s cute.

I’ll definitely watch the anime.

I felt that, if I kept on sleeping, I would wake up in the world of some shoujo manga, but then my cell phone beeped.

“Hm?”

A text message had arrived, from Shirahata-san, of course.

[I’ve just finished reading it. The first impression I had: love is beautiful.]

A-Amazing… so this was the reaction of a girl who had just learned about love in her second year of high school… wait, no, Shirahata-san wasn’t representative of the entire population, so I couldn’t generalize her reaction.

[I’ve just finished reading it too. How do you feel? Do you understand a little more about love?]

[I think so. It’s not like love is always fun, right? There were times when my heart started aching.]

[You’re right. Love isn’t all fun and games.]

I could tell her that from my own experience.

I had been rejected so many times, after all. Even so, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun.

I really didn’t know what love is.

[Also, when people fall in love, their eyes turn into hearts!]

[No, that’s not true! That’s just staged!]

[What about the roses blooming in the background?]

[That’s also staged! If roses suddenly bloom behind someone, it’s way too unscientific! They’d be more scared than romantic!]

C-Calm down, me. I couldn’t help it if she said something as crazy as this. After all, she didn’t know anything about love either.

But… since we both didn’t know anything, the idiotic things we were saying were hilarious…

[I think I understand what it means to fall in love with someone a little better now. It makes me want to fall in love too.]

[I see. Well, shoujo manga and real life romance are a little different, so I told you to use it as a reference, but don’t overly rely on it, okay? There usually aren’t any fateful encounters in real life.]

That’s right. Reality was much more refreshing yet sloppy.

[R-Really? But even if there is no fateful encounter, I’m sure love will shine in reality just like the characters in shoujo manga. That’s just my speculation for now…]

[Well, I guess so. If you fall in love, I hope your love will shine.]

My shame just went down the drain. But, after reading that shoujo manga, I couldn’t help but say these creepy comments…

It’s like saying, “But only if you’re good-looking!”

If I were to say it to someone with less-than-ideal looks, we would both probably explode. But since it was Shirahata-san, I knew she would probably be fine.

[Thank you so much! From now on, I’ll be counting on you!]

Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything I could do for her. All I could do was probably answer Shirahata-san’s questions or retort her outlandish comments.

But maybe that’s good enough.

For the time being, though, I had to decide how to teach her about love in general. I replied to her with an [Of course.]

“Hah… Now, time to study.”

Since I was reading a shoujo manga and exchanging messages with Shirahata-san, it was almost twelve o’clock already.

However, an exam was coming up, so I had to study.

I ran my pen through the pages.

(TL: Time for my one week break… kek)